


Down The Rabbit Hole

by ladyamesindy



Series: Follow the White Rabbit [2]
Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: F/M, Identical Twins, Intrigue, Mystery, Other, Shepard's Twin
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-07
Updated: 2020-10-07
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:35:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26878300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladyamesindy/pseuds/ladyamesindy
Summary: Shepard knows what threats the galaxy has in store for it, but no one seems to want to listen.  Turning herself in to the Alliance after destroying the Bahak System is a promise kept, but after months of house arrest and little progress made in her defense, she must now deal with a new threat ... but she isn't alone.
Relationships: James Vega/Female OC, Twin Shepards - Relationship
Series: Follow the White Rabbit [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1960984





	Down The Rabbit Hole

**Author's Note:**

> This is a follow up story to "Through the Looking Glass" that I did for the 2013 MEBB. Later that year, I participated in my first NaNoWriMo, and this story is the result. I haven't gotten around to editing/finalizing it yet, but after looking at it some over the past day or two, I decided to start that process. There will be no set posting schedule for it, especially since I'm about to dive into NaNoWriMo for 2020 in a month, but I really want to share it.

Days, weeks, _years_ , brought him here to this moment, this precise instant in time. In history. _History_. One day, history would tell _his_ story. The way history should have been. The galaxy would finally see _HE_ was the one who made it all happen. In that moment, no longer would he be simply ‘The Illusive Man,’ but someone worthy of note, of admiration, of awe ….

But ‘one day’ hadn’t arrived just yet. Obstacles still remained in his path – include some of his own making, technically speaking. Issues that needed ‘cleaning up’ before he could take his place as the man who vaulted humanity to its rightful position of dominance in the galaxy.

“Shepard?”

He scoffed softly, not directed at the person speaking, but of the name. “Shepard will be taken care of,” he reassured his companion. “Never fear that. She can’t do any real damage in her current position anyway.” 

Her current circumstances hadn’t kept him from dispensing troops to deal with the threat, however. Shepard was a magnet. A focus. Someone to whom far too many people, particularly humans, looked for guidance. Their brief association the year before had tarnished that, to a degree, but not for long. Her return to the living and, according to many, fall from grace notwithstanding, they _still_ viewed her as their savior, all these months later. It was a raw rub, but it was one that could be dealt with easily enough. Her current status of incarceration made it a lot less difficult, in fact. 

As he exhaled, along with the cigarette smoke escaped another soft scoffing sound. 

If there was one ‘problem’ with humanity, it was the Alliance. A mere annoyance most of the time, he’d had no doubts Shepard would be welcomed back to their fold after the disaster at the Collector Base. She was Alliance born and bred; he return to them, her acceptance by them, was predictable, not surprising. It was the assumed outcome from the moment the Lazarus Project was created. At the time, there had been suggestions from within his organization that they should guarantee Shepard’s cooperation before moving ahead, but he’d refused. To do so would have changed her, he argued. Made her something she wasn’t and, therefore, unpredictable. The goal was to bring her back just as she was before and he sank many of the organization’s resources to achieve that end. Predictability was better than control.

Until it wasn’t.

Another puff of smoke swirled around his head like hoary ghosts. A mistake that wouldn’t be repeated, but perhaps there might be another way around it.

“No,” he replied, “I have a different assignment for you. One I am giving to you because I trust you.” He eyed his companion, eyes narrowing intently. “Implicitly.” He handed a data pad over and waited for the man to read through it. “Get on that; the sooner, the better. We’ll talk in more detail upon your return.”

Datapad still in hand, the man bowed respectfully before he turned and walked out of the room. 

Alone, his attention drawn back to the data feeds before him, a small, private, secret smile curved at his lips. _Illusive Man, indeed._

“I am coming for you, Shepard. Your usefulness in this matter has outlasted your worth.”


End file.
